Okay, maybe it only feels like years. But it’s been over a week that I’ve been dealing with a limping laptop. After contacting Acer tech support, they took me through a gazillion senseless emails that had me jumping from one foot to the next. I was able to “restore” the drive, so I am actually typing this post on the laptop. And it moves….verrrry……slowwwwwwllly…..with a lot of……”not responding” going on. At last I have shipping instructions to send it in to be fixed. I get to pay postage there. Needless to say, I am not real thrilled with Acer at the moment.

In the mean time, though, life has moved on at Casa Del Catie. Final line edits for Another Time Aroundjust went to my editor tonight. It took a bit of juggling on the kids’ computer and sneaking time at the office to get it done, but Brin’s book is in the can and ready to go. The release date was backed up, by the way, and will be released on September 8. Just after my birthday.

I also spend a day at Camp Iyataka with a bunch of Cub Scouts – including my own. We hiked and hiked and hiked, ate pizzas made out of pita pockets over a camp fire, and made the absolute best banana dessert I’ve ever had. On a campfire! I have pictures, but can’t load them to stupid computer to share. I will, I promise. Along with pics of my latest pet project.

I had a wild hair this spring. Really wild, considering how much I hate gardening. Our house is low and blocky with no curb appeal, so I had the idea to make a new flower bed out front. And I did. Two days of stripping grass off the dirt, another day of digging, and a day of planting and we have a gorgeous new garden! It came out better than I thought it would, and the last touch – a tree my son won by writing an Arbor Day essay – will go in when we pick it up on Thursday.

So I’ve had a busy, frustrating week. Hopefully, though, soon I will be back on schedule and working on the next book. Whatever that will be. In the mean time, I’m off to bubble wrap this puppy and ship it off to parts unknown.